The surgical treatment for carcinoma of the gallbladder— Rationale of the second-look operation for inapparent carcinoma

Eighty-seven patients with carcinoma of the gallbladder treated in our hospital over a 15-year period were reviewed. Macroscopic curative resection was performed in 30 cases, 6 of which received second-look operations, and their cumulative five-year survival rate was 42.6 per cent. Histological and clinical analysis of our cases initially diagnosed by postoperative histologic examination revealed that the depth of carcinomatous invasion was the most important criterion for the indication of second-look operation, and that the second-look operation is mandatory for the inapparent carcinoma limited to the muscularis or subserosa. The surgical procedures of the second-look operation were: resection of the anterior inferior and medial inferior areas of the liver and dissection of the regional lymph-nodes. The presence of invasion of carcinoma to the cut end of the cystic duct or severe carcinomatous invasion to the lymphatic vessels were also important histopathologic findings for a second-look operation. Cases in which lymphatic invasions are remarkably observed, should receive an en bloc hepato-cholecystectomy plus a resection of the extrahepatic bile duct with neural tissues and soft fatty tissues in the hepatoduodenal ligament in a two-stage operation.